Medical Claims in Scientology Doctrine

Medical Claims In Scientology Doctrine

In Church of Scientology doctrine, there have been a number of controversial medical claims made, usually centered around their auditing process. These claims began with the 1950 publication of founder L. Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (DMSMH). Chapter 5 of DMSMH, Psychosomatic Illness, asserted "The problem of psychosomatic illness is entirely embraced by Dianetics, and by Dianetic technique such illness has been eradicated entirely in every case. About 70 percent of the physician's current roster of diseases fall in the category of psychosomatic illness." Hubbard added, "That all illnesses are psychosomatic is, of course, absurd, for there exist, after all, life forms called germs which have survival as their goals." Later in the chapter Hubbard asserted, "Bizarre aches and pains in various portions of the body are generally psychosomatic. Migraine headaches are psychosomatic and, with the others, are uniformly cured by Dianetic therapy. (And the word cured is used in its fullest sense." Such claims have often brought the Church to the attention of law enforcement and regulatory agencies.